After considering it for a few months, and chatting to a number of Circle members, I have decided to make a shift in one aspect of your membership.
As you know, there are currently 29 (soon to be 30) workshops available in the Circle. From my conversations with you, it’s become clear that most people don’t do the workshops as they come out – and that many of you haven’t done all of the workshops (yet!). And, I know that many of the workshops cover a lot of information, with many, many possible actions/outcomes.
I feel like there is already a huge amount of content here for you – and that, combined with the YYTT lessons, is a lot to keep you busy!
I would also like to foster more focus and collaboration in the group… while still giving you something fresh each month.
And so, the idea of monthly Projects was born.
(Please note, though – if you’re not in the FB group, or you are a quiet member, you are absolutely NOT required to participate – you can always do the Project on your own.)
The idea is this.
Instead of me just creating a ‘workshop’ every month, where I teach via a video, I will run a Project for the community.
This will be a small, important business task that you can get done within a month – with my guidance and the help of all the other Circle members who are also participating in that month’s Project!
Some examples of possible projects are:
Create 3 new products this month, and get them in your online shop
Overhaul your social media profiles
Send 2 emails to your mailing list
Improve your website SEO (via a few key tasks)
Update your About page
Focus on your Facebook biz page for a month and post at least 2 times a week
Pitch your business to 3 bloggers/media outlets
Some of you may remember the #PinterestChallenge we did a while back – it will be a little like that!
What will this actually look like?
Well, I’ll create a banner for the FB group each month, highlighting the monthly project (with a hashtag you can use to talk about it). I’ll give you links to resources (mostly mine, but also other people’s that I think are relevant) that will help you with your Project.
This might be past workshops, podcasts, blog posts, etc. It might also mean some months that I DO create a new video workshop, if I feel it’s necessary for that Project!
I’ll do a little intro video, as well as a post here on the site – and send it out in the monthly email, and share it in the FB group.
I’ll ask you questions during the month to encourage you and help keep you on-track to complete the Project.
Basically, the idea is to help and support you on taking one concrete action step that will help to move your business forward – with my help, and the support of the Circle.
So, what do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
I am, of course, open to suggestions – so if you have any ideas for Projects we could do, please leave them in the comments below!
P.S. As it’s almost June, I am going to do a ‘combo’ Workshop/Project this month on Facebook Business Pages, to give you an idea of what this is going to look like.
So – you want to get your world out into the world via brick & mortar shops. But how?
In this workshop, I give you the steps you need to take to land your first wholesale account!
If you’ve ever wanted to sell wholesale, but didn’t know where to start or what to do, this workshop will get you started.
In it, I cover things like doing your research, your linesheet, terms & conditions, how to reach out to potential stockists, and the process of selling to them, as well as the packing and shipping part of the equation.
As always, if you have any questions, leave them for me below!
This is a workshop that was requested a while back by a member of the Circle – what do you do when you fall out of love with your work, and lose your passion?
Well, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but in this workshop I discuss:
the natural ebb and flow of the creative cycle
a few different ways to try and re-ignite your passion for your craft/biz
failing that – how to decide if it’s time to let go and move on to something new.
I hope this helps you if you come to a point (and it’s very common) of lacking motivation and passion for your work at any stage.
If you’ve gone through this experience, or are currently struggling with it, I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
This workshop is an exercise in introspection – confronting and clarifying your own personal stories around money.
Why? Because the stories we tell ourselves about money have a huge impact on the success of our businesses. If we don’t value ourselves, or our work, we end up undercharging and damaging the prospects of growth.
But, more than that, how you feel about and act towards money can have a huge impact on how you feel, and the decisions and risks you take in your life and your business.
So, this workshop is for everyone, yes, but I created it specifically for those of you who have internalised negative money stories that might be holding you back from having the successful business you could have.
So many of you have asked this question, so here it is! A workshop to help you choose the right online platform for your shop and/or website.
There are so many variables to consider, so I’ve aimed to take you through a number of them in this workshop, to help you clarify what you need out of an online venue, and therefore, which way to go.
There is no ‘one size fits all’ answer here, but I do give some advice at the end as to where I think you should start if you’re a complete newbie, as well as sharing what I do with my own business.
Good luck, and I’d love to hear your thoughts and questions below!
{NB: When I recorded this workshop, Mailchimp was my recommended email service provider for makers. That has now changed, and I recommend using Mailerlite instead. You can apply pretty much everything from this workshop to Mailerlite.}
It’s a brand new year, and I’m kicking it off with this long-promised workshop, covering intermediate mailing list strategies.
If you’re just starting out with a mailing list, I recommend you first go and do this Workshop, which covers the basics.
This new workshop assumes you already have a mailing list set up, you’ve been using it for a while, and you want to go deeper – to experiment in using strategies that will make your mailing list more effective.
I discuss things like segmentation, split testing, auto-responders and more.
